Can you really make money sharing your views on a dodgy League One football team you just so happen to love (or any other passion, hobby, mistake in your life)?

Last week, Internet Income Detective’s editor-in-chief, Nick Laight, sent out a rather inspiring email.

In it, he asked the question: ‘Have you discovered your inner goldmine?’

He said: ??‘It’s my passionate and long-held belief that in everyone’s life there’s a valuable quality, skill or experience that can be turned into a profitable online business…

OK, you may not believe me right now, but I guarantee there are qualities, insights and ideas inside you right now that other people can enjoy and benefit from… and can ultimately make you a great income.’

The information in Nick’s email really hit home for me.

So many of the ways we try to make money online fall by the wayside because they are too tricky to set up or run, too expensive or too, well, boring to stick at.

But, like Nick, I think the real secret to making money online is pinpointing the website or online presence that’s exactly right for you, and then building something very simple around that idea.

Simple and right for you. That’s the key.

Of course, it’s pinpointing that golden nugget of an idea exactly right for you which is the hard part.

But maybe it doesn’t have to be…

As Nick went on to say:

‘The biggest mistake you can make is to undervalue what you’ve learned in your life – your work, relationships, training, hobbies, experiences, reading, mistakes and triumphs.

Each of us is a unique combination of experiences, interests, passions and ideas that nobody else can possibly replicate.

The difference is whether you take the gift you already have and do something with it…

It would be such a waste to go through life without realising your true potential – the pride and sense of achievement of helping others, your own personal fulfillment and the chance to start and run a business that can bring you great financial rewards.

If you’ve ever helped someone, overcome an obstacle, given something up, taken up a new hobby, solved a common problem, then you could have something you could pass onto others.’

And Nick’s been working on something that can ensure that you have just such a business: one that can make you realise your true potential by tapping in to your ‘inner goldmine’.

What’s more, in the coming weeks, he will be releasing a series of training videos that will show you EXACTLY how this works – he’ll map out the business model you can copy for yourself, including the key free tools that are now available for you to make it happen.

To get the videos as soon as they are released, you can register here.

Make money on a simple site you’re passionate about…

Thinking about people who have found happiness and success whilst doing something simple that they are passionate about, I thought of a few individuals that I could have a chat with regarding how they have set up and run a website that they actually enjoy working on and have a passion for running.

The first of these I wanted to share with you today…

My own brother (I like to keep things in the family) Thomas Baugh, is the founder and owner of ‘Wolves Blog’: a football blog all about Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The domain is, imaginatively, www.wolvesblog.com

Here’s a little Q&A with him…

A brief history of your site:

Why did you start it?

Two reasons. One practical, one slightly more romantic.

Practically, there were no other decent blogs about the football team I support [Wolverhampton Wanderers or 'Wolves'] and as I’m a keen writer, I thought I’d give it a shot myself.

Equally, I’d spotted this picture [below] of a famous Wolves victory and felt inspired to create a website around it, which I duly did. ????Two years later, the player pictured was sold to another club, so I had to swap the banner. That was a sad day.

How long has it been going?

Since summer 2009. Nearly 5 years.

How long did it take you to set up?

A few hours. I spent a Sunday locked away in my office buying the domain, installing WordPress, fiddling with the design and writing my first post.

Running your site:

How long does it take you to maintain?

Writing posts, moderating comments, replying to comments and general maintenance of the blog software itself probably adds up to about 8 hours a week on average, give or take.

How many contributors do you have to your blog? Do you write much content yourself?

I’m fortunate enough to have a regular contributor (a top chap called Ben) who significantly eases the burden. We also have the occasional guest author. But I still write 75% of the content, which normally adds up to about 6–8 posts per month.

Do you spend much time on keyword research and analytics, working out what content is pulling in traffic?

Not really if I’m honest. The subject of our content is largely dictated to us by events (e.g. matches, new players, managers being sacked, etc) so we don’t have to worry much about that. But I do often dip into Google Analytics to see where our traffic is coming from, as Twitter/Facebook, news portals (like NewsNow) and other football sites send as much traffic to us as search engines.

Identifying where your visitors are coming from and looking for ways to exploit that channel further is definitely a top blogging tip.

Do you think you need to be passionate about the subject you write about?

I wouldn’t say it’s essential, but it certainly makes life a hell of a lot easier.

You normally have to be patient to see results from a blog. The people that do well tend to achieve because they stand the test of time. If you’re not interested in the subject matter it makes writing every post a slog, so you’re far more likely to throw the towel in before you have a chance to be successful.

How do you (if, indeed, you do) monetise your blog?

I sell advertising space in the sidebar, normally to sports-related businesses (like betting companies, kit manufacturers, etc). ??If you’ve got a quality blog and a decent audience, you’ll normally attract offers. I make sure it’s clearly stated on the site how advertisers can get in touch with me, so I don’t miss any opportunities. ??If I was more proactive and didn’t have other commitments, I’d also be testing stuff like Google Adsense (which I’ve tinkered with) and affiliate adverts (which I’m testing as we speak).

Every site is different though and one size doesn’t fit all. You’ve got to try different things.

In summary:

What do you most enjoy about managing your site?

I’m fortunate because I get a lot of nice feedback, so I always enjoy reading the comments. Even if they’re critical, I try to give a response and open up discussion. Interacting with people is what it’s all about. It’s the reason I started in the first place, to chat with people about the Wolves.

What is the most important piece of advice you would give to someone trying to set up a similar site to yours, e.g. on a subject they are passionate about/a hobby/sports team etc?

The golden rule is ‘keep going’. Persevere through the tough times because you will be rewarded. It can take just one post, on the right subject, at the right time for everything to take off.

You’d also be surprised how an audience can grow over an extended period of time without you realising it. I thought traffic to my blog was drifting at a steady pace, but when I looked at the year on year comparisons, I realised I got 50,000 more visits in 2012 than I did in 2011. 2013 was even bigger!

I’d like thank Tom for answering my questions and urge you to consider pinpointing your own ‘inner goldmine’.

Nick’s upcoming free videos will make sure you get it right.